Rally Downtown

Last night I stopped by a big, big cold and rainy rally for marriage equality rights in Oregon. A domestic partnership plan was passed in Oregon recently and then a federal judge put an injunction on the law coming into effect. The legal reasoning behind a federal court injunction in a state law matter is outlandish. Anyways, we had a big rally and Sam Adams was there, pictured below. Most likely the next mayor of Portland, and gay as a handbag full of rainbows.

drizzle and tomato soup

Headphones on, contracts outline propped on the counter, rocking out the work today and had a nice solo lunch at Blue Plate. I got a million things done for the clients, walked through the Portland drizzle to the gym, and life seems pretty good even though I have SO MUCH to study between now and then. I even ponied up my $500 bucks to take the PMBR bar review seminar in a couple of weeks. Necessary? A security blanket? We shall never know but I didn't mind paying if it helps. Ever since that McMenamin's thing (below) I got a big crush on Portland all over again. All the music loving mellow souls. all the population density, somuch stuff to do. Oh Portland, I miss you when I have to study all the time. When I'm finished will you still hold me in your cold, wet embrace?

P.S. : I miss Sleater-Kinney

Crystal Ballroom

Well McMenamins's sure knows how to throw a freaking party. (yes i studied for 9 hrs) but after that we walked to the Crystal Ballroom and saw the Builders and the Butchers, who were really great, and BOBBY BARE JR. who was awesome. You just want to take him home and make him pancakes with real maple syrup. And we made friends! I met a great, nice guy in The Decemberists and also hung out with Ashleigh Flynn. And then we danced at the Lola Room. And then we caught a late dinner at my favorite place so for such things, Cassidy's. And now we are watching Steel Magnolias. Freezing rain is falling. Do i have to go to work tomorrow?

the last one to know

i just realized that it was sarah jessica parker on square pegs all those years ago. only that can explain my secret tolerance of sex in the city. or maybe that and also and my fondness for camp.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - When U Were Mine (righteous Cyndi Lauper Cover)

Was Tracy Nelson really just in three episodes? That's what wikipedia says.

Unrelated: I found myself agreeing with Peggy Noonan again. What's up with that? Maybe I am just a sucker for her prose, though the linked piece is not a very good sample.

Oh, this is good...

Looks like Langhorne Slim, Bobby Bare Jr, and the Long Winters are going to play at the Crystal Ballroom this sunday for FREE. A good development indeed.

Bobby Bare Jr. - The Heart Bionic

Le Pigeon

Well I clearly can't study ALL the time, though I did most of the long weekend. By monday night I had a good feeling that the rest of the town had exhausted its chi without me so rebecca and I could just walk right into Le Pigeon on Burnside and get a table. And indeed we did. Hype, hype, hype that can back it up. I devoured a pigeon (succulent grey sky rat) and rebecca had beef cheeks.

Coach Said Not To - Be My Pigeon

Today I exhausted my own chi. Flew to Medford OR and back for a status conference for a case I'm handling down there. What a crazily laid out town. Though the folks at the Medford branch office were super awesome. AND it was a great day for for flying. Mount McLaughlin was beautiful to see. Incidentally, the folks in that part of the world rather weirdly think they live in the 51st state.

Envoy to the Belge

A new restaurant opened in Portland called The Belgian Embassy. I found out about it because they have painted a sign on the roof of the old house where they're located in the southernmost 5th quadrant. I saw the sign a while back and became very curious. Accordingly, Shayla, Paul and I formed a diplomatic corps to explore the wonders of steak and frites, tasty salad, poached pear, and really good Belgian beer. Now I am no beer person and don't even like the stuff that much but I have heard that Belgian ales are where its at, and as they say "when in Belgium" (or at least their Portland embassy) so I gave it a try. The proprietor, Jim Parker, was our server and talked up the Tommee Arthur Signature Ale brewed at De Proeuf Brewery in Belgium. He crowed that it was the only keg of its kind in Oregon, and dammit if it wasn't the best beer I've ever had.

I mean it.

Music for you:

Scrawl - Good Under Pressure

P.S. I miss hyperventilating on a regular basis at the grocery and the coffee shop when I would see Marcy Mays and Sue Harshe of Scrawl going about their business in Columbus. So far, seeing the Portland rock stars isn't nearly as thrilling. But then again, Scrawl was my Smiths.

erase stray marks

Tiki Kon Texy

Today we learned the lesson of going to the office to study: unwise. if i'm at the office i feel compelled to work on my cases. last night we learned the lesson of the tiki bar at Thatch. The spirit of the Kahiki thrives, trader vic is alive and well, and you can still get a decent pu pu platter in post-cold war america. very comforting. why there's a whole blog about tiki bars! hooray!

Music for You:

Lillydale - Wind Chimes

Les Baxter - The Ancient Galleon


Oh, Kahiki! How I miss you...

Fresh Art

Went to an art opening tonight at Fresh Pot in the Mississippi neighborhood. Nicole Georges does big and small drawings and paintings that i really like, all of animals in what she showed tonight. Some of the ladies from Bitch Magazine were there and Kaia Wilson stopped by. How cool is that?

Music for you:

Thao - Bag of Hammers

Fear is my friend.

Wake, work, study, sleep, repeat. I realize the picture above says Florida on the books. But my life looks just like the picture if you substitute in the word Oregon. Didn't have time for a more accurate picture. Don't have time to have all manner of fun new adventures to write about on this blog. I can't be failing the bar exam. Not when everyone at work knows I'm taking it and they are all super-geniuses, and while I have my charms and talents, I am also Attorney Fidgit-or-Stare-Blankly-Into Space, Esq. Sometimes. So I can't be failing the bar exam. But I'm sort of getting into it. Anyways, that's my excuse for not having more interesting adventures to report. I sat in a coffeeshop and did multiple choice questions. Ta-dah! If you find me reporting on fun adventures between now and the end of February, its ok to gently remind me to study. Really.

I think this might be my bar exam study theme song:

Feist - I Feel It All

Omigod, what if it snows?

This is just a few blocks from our house and apparently the mass response of Portlanders to snow. So many subarus!!

Hoardes of Ladies

We got there half an hour early, and the lesbians were already wrapped around the Bagdad Theater, trailing down the block in both directions. It was cold, it was rainy, but they stood their ground. The theater holds almost 600, and women were turned away. We had to sit all the way in the front row. What could drive the sisterhood into such a teeming mob? Season premiere of The L Word. This was serious business, up on the big screen and hosted by Lipstick and Dipstick, local lesbian advice column writers. There was an afterparty at Crush but by the time we got there it was way too eponymous, so we went for a late snack at Screen Door. My kind of cooking.

Movie Night

We saw a bad movie, but then we rode the street car to Higgins and things seemed an awful lot better. Back to the bad movie: Woody Harrelson as effete D.C. nancy boy embroiled in convoluted murder mystery. Spare yourself addtional knowledge.

Woe is Me

I started studying for the February bar exam for Oregon today. No matter that I have been practicing law for nine years. No matter that I am a member in good standing of two other state bars. I have to take the Oregon bar. Pity me.

Back Home

After short work-related stops in Medford and Eugene, we got back to our little abode in Portland and were happy to be off the road and onto a friend's couch to watch Project Runway. We listened to a lot of music on the trip which put me in a music frame of mind. And so there's Music for You:

The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbor
Gang of Four - Damaged Goods
Busdriver - Casting Agents and Cowgirls

Far Out

I woke Rebecca up from her car nap and announced that visitors from another planet had finally arrived to bring about the end times. They had ingeniously camoflauged their huge space ships as clouds hovering around Mt. Shasta near the Oregon/California border. I saw some propaganda (obviously planted by Them) at a nearby truck stop that said it was a natural phenomenon called lenticular clouds. Yeah, right. Trust no one. The truth is out there.

Happy New Year!

I had the best new year's eve EVER. I usually do something halfway interesting if i am travelling and am always vaguely disappointed. Not this year. We went to see an old school honky tonk band called Rowdy Kate play at an beautiful historic Sacramento bar, Old Ironsides. People were all dressed up for the show in their rockabilly best and it was quite the scene. In the bathroom, the girls were standing in the mirror, using red sharpie for lipstick. One of them called herself Psycho Betty and drove a purple cadillac. Amid the freshening of their looks (short bangs, high brows), the ladies exchanged pleasantries about their jobs working for the state of California in corrections. What is a rockabilly girl to do?